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Census Returns
These are one of the most useful sources that are available. Censuses have
been
taken every ten years since 1801, but are only available up until 1891, as
the records
are closed for 100 years. Some of the earlier ones may not be available, the
information on them is limited, consisting of only the householder's
details. From 1851 onwards things improved, the following details were
included:
Each member of the household, their name, sex, relationship to the head of
the household, marital status, occupation, county, town or parish of birth,
and whether deaf, dumb, blind, imbecile or lunatic.
The 1881 census has been name-indexed by the Mormons and the Federation of
Family History Societies, and so is an extremely useful resource. Some of
the others
may have a surname index and much work is being done on this. Many genealogy
groups are indexing census records, to make searching much simpler. There
are limitations to these returns as anyone who was not at home on the night
that the enumerator called would not appear. People's memories can be
inaccurate so that
details such as age, and place of birth may not be correct. Some children
under the
age of 5 were omitted, and on some of the earlier censuses people's ages
were
rounded down to the nearest 5 years. Often couples would indicate that they
were married when not because of the morality of the day. People regularly
moved house
in search of work, and would sometimes do a "moonlight flit" when rent
arrears were due. Even with these limitations census returns are still the
most valuable source of information for 19th century research.
International Genealogical Index
This is compiled by the Mormon Church, and is extremely useful. It consists
of a name index (by county) for baptisms and marriages from the sixteenth to
the nineteenth century. Its available in many of the local archives, and
more importantly its also available on the internet. I shall list the
address later.
Other Sources in Local Archives
Old newspapers can provide a wealth of information about clubs, societies,
advertisements, and a roll of honour for both world wars. Large scale maps
can help locating where people lived, which is useful when investigating
census details. Trade directories give the names of people in trade and the
photographic collection may contain photographs of streets or buildings
associated with the family. Some may even contain family members
photographed at various functions.
The Internet
This is becoming an increasingly useful tool. There are sites such as the
one run by the Mormon Church which allow you to search a large database for
your ancestors. Other sites are devoted to just a particular surname. There
are sites offering search services, and internet bookshops which list
genealogy books. As the internet is international it is particularly useful
when searching for relatives abroad. Most of the local history centres and
record offices have sites that list the available records, and also contain
a wealth of information. Hopefully one day we will be able to directly
access their records using the internet. That will greatly simplify this
kind of research, and could allow you to search all of the local history
centres in the country from the comfort of your armchair.
Some useful sites are:
Wolverhampton Archives and Local Studies
Walsall
Local History Centre
Dudley Archives & Local History
Centre
The Birmingham and Midland Society
for Genealogy
Genuki
- lots of general information
Genuki -
Staffordshire
Harbach Genealogy - includes Willenhall indexes and War
Memorial
Ancestry.co.uk
- search for records of births deaths and marriages
1901 Census -
the census online
1911 Census
-
the census online
Commonwealth War Graves
Commission - details of those who died in two world
wars
Cyndi's List of
Genealogy sites - a portal site, with innumerable
genealogical links
Find My Past -
search all kinds of records
Family Search
- The Mormon Church family database
Federation of Family History Societies - lists member
societies
FreeBMD
- free access to the Civil Registration Index
FreeREG - free access to parochial records
Irish Ancestral Research
Association - useful for the Irish community
Genes Reunited
- find family members
The
National Archives
RootsWeb
-
share and search world wide genealogical data bases
Society of Genealogists -
details of the Society and how to contact professional genealogists
Birth, Marriage and Death Certificates
These contain valuable information as well as dates.
A birth certificate contains the parent's full names, the mother's maiden
name, the sex of the child, the date and place of birth, the father's
occupation, and from 1969 the place
of birth of both parents.
A marriage certificate contains the date and place of marriage, the names
and ages of
the couple, their occupation, the place where they lived and the names and
occupation
of their fathers.
A death certificate contains the name of the deceased, the date and place of
death,
the cause of death, or if a married or widowed woman it contains the
occupation, or
the name and occupation of the husband, the date and place of birth, the
usual address and maiden name.
Certification began in July 1837, and births have to be registered within 42
days. The certificates on record can never be directly viewed by the public,
a copy has to be requested and paid for at the local registry office.
Indexes for the certificates are kept
at the General Registry Office in St. Catherine's House, London. Copies of
these can
be viewed at most of the local authorities' archives.
There are separate indexes for births, deaths and marriages, which are
arranged alphabetically by the quarter of the year ending 31st March, 30th
June, 30th
September and 31st December. Each index lists the surname, Christian name(s),
registration district, page number on which the entry falls, and the date of
registration. When applying for a copy of a certificate it is important to
supply as much information
as possible. |
